Final answer:
The statement is false because U.S. newspapers actively printed sensational stories about Cuba using yellow journalism to increase circulation and sway public opinion.
Step-by-step explanation:
The statement that in 1898 Americans were ill-informed about events in Cuba because U.S. newspapers refused to print the stories of violence and injustice is false. In fact, the opposite was true. During that time, major newspapers engaged in a style of journalism that came to be known as yellow journalism.
Media tycoons like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer used sensationalist reporting to increase their newspapers' circulation, often exaggerating or fabricating stories about the events in Cuba to agitate for war and boost sales.
Their newspapers, the New York Journal and the New York World respectively, competed to sway public sentiment with riveting pictures, bold headlines, and melodramatic storytelling, often at the expense of factual accuracy.